Download Form CH2

CH2 form should be filled by parents or those who are responsible and taking care of children generally below the age of 16 or 20. For the year 2018-19, the weekly child rate is £20.70 for one child or the eldest child and £13.70 for every additional child. It essentially means that if in your family you have one child you can claim approximately £1076, for two child £1788 and for three child £2501 for the year 2018. A guardian/parent should apply for child benefit as soon as –

• Child is born
• Child has been adopted
• Child has come to stay with them

Documents required for receiving child benefit

• National Insurance number
• Average annual income before tax
• Bank details and other account details
• Birth certificate of the child for whom benefit is sought
• Adoption certificate in case the child has been adopted
• Passport in case the child was born outside of UK
• Child Benefit number of previous children if applicable
• Current residential address
• Residential address of previous home in case the duration of stay at current home is less than 12 months

Also Read: Child Benefit Reform

Also Read: Child Benefit Charge and Tax

How much child benefit will I get?

For the first child £20.70 is paid and £13.70 is paid for each subsequent child every week. The below table gives an indication on how much you can claim on child benefit annually.

If you or your partner’s annual income is less than £50,000 -

If you or your partner’s annual income is less than £50,000 -

You will have to pay an extra charge of 1% for every £100 earned over £50,000 till £60,000. While seeking benefit, you can also choose not to receive benefit when applying for child benefit.

What if you are being underpaid in child benefit or are not getting paid for all your children?

You can fill form CH24A if you are unhappy about the benefit you are receiving. You need to fill in the details and why you think you are not getting full benefits. This form should be submitted by the person who has claimed for child benefit in the first place. You have to ask for a mandatory reconsideration telling them why you think the decision is wrong or why there was a delay in requesting for child benefit after the one month timeline.

Download form CH2

To get help on filling the form, you can take help from CH2 notes. These notes will help you in identifying problem areas which needs to be considered while filing the benefit.

How to fill CH2 form?

1. About You This should be filled in by the person who is seeking child benefit. If you have previously claimed benefit, then you need to submit the Child Benefit Number. You can get this number from the letters you have received or from bank statement. Fill in your current address and the last address. If your nationality is other than United Kingdom then you have fill question number 17 where you have to state nationality. Depending on question 23, further information has o be provided in question number 24 or 32 in the form. You will also need you national insurance number which you can get from P60 certificate, PAYE coding notice, payslip from your employer or from the letter Department for Work and Pensions or Jobcentre Plus.
2. About your partner This requires basic details about the partner – nationality, national insurance number, if they are receiving child benefit, if yes then Child Benefit Number in question number 30, eldest child’s full name and details in question number 31.
3. Children you want to claim for Question number 32 is for how many children the benefit is sought and question number 33 is for the birth certificates you are sending. In question number 44 and 59 - If you’re not the child’s parent but you’re looking after the child, you can still claim Child Benefit. If you’ve a stepchild or a legally adopted child, they’re counted as your own child.
4. High Income Earners This section should only be filled by individuals whose average annual income or their partner’s average annual income is more than £50,000 each. In question 62 you can decide whether to opt out of child benefit or continue with child benefit and pay extra income tax.
5. How you want to be paid? Here you can decide how to get paid – weekly or annually. You also need to declare if you are already receiving child benefit for any previous child.
6. Bank Details Account number, branch code and roll or reference number in case account is with a building society.

Why Claim Child Benefit?

• It will safeguard your State Pension
• It will allow you to apply for guardian allowance
• Get credit towards state pension
• Your child gets national insurance number automatically before 16th birthday
• Get national insurance credit

Where to send the form offline?

Contact Child Benefit Office

Also Read: Tax Credits Service

About the author

Sumit Agarwal
Sumit Agarwal (ACMA ACA India), the Managing partner of dns accountants is a highly respected accountant with expertise in helping owner-managed businesses.